New to forum and Skoda. Have just ordered an Octavia Combi 2.0 Elegance with a few extras, leather/Alcantara, heated seats, sports pack and few other things but have been looking at photos of the variable boot floor from the gallery section and was thinking it looks quite good, didn't have the chance to see one in the dealer showroom. Does anyone have one and would they recommend it over the standard boot? Judging from the photos it seems. To raise the floor of the boot up a good bit and I also understand that you have to have a space saver spare wheel rather than full size steel wheel, is that correct? Just seems it would be useful for keeping smaller items in place rather than them sliding all over the place..

Hi, I could be wrong, but i believe that the Elegance spec has the variable boot floor as standard.

I don't think the variable boot floor gives you the full size spare - that is a separate option. I have a full size spare with the standard boot floor for example. What it does mean is that when you fold the rear seats down, you have a flat load bay. 

The elegance has standard 17" alloys

The spare is a 16" steel, so I believe it is called a temporary spare wheel (or something similar) because the size is different, but it is effectively a full size wheel (but I haven't got my elegance yet to confirm that)

You would still need to select the spare wheel option though.

If you spec 18" or 19" this may change,

Hi, I could be wrong, but i believe that the Elegance spec has the variable boot floor as standard.

Yes it does and IMHO the variable boot floor is more bother than it's worth although fortunately it makes no difference to the space for the spare wheel.  I bought a "full size" spare when I bought my Elegance and there is plenty of room for it.  I've already had cause to be glad of my spare wheel but wrestling with the variable boot floor, the cover over the spare wheel well, the toolkit and all the rest of it in the dark and pouring rain was not funny.

 

Incidentally if you do buy a spare wheel and toolkit it's a good idea to practice taking the tools, particularly the jack, out of the holder before you have to do it for real.  It's more difficult than you'd think.

Edited 9 February, 201511 yr by dave6376

I got variable for my Vrs to allow me to slide items in and out easier. I have a "sad" hobby in the form of Radio controlled model boats. Some are quite long and heavy, so this makes life easier for me. However in normal use I fold the floor to the half way position. This gives a low boot floor near tailgate so stuff doesn't fall out on opening. And a vertical wall halfway back with the high floor behind this. Plus storage under.

Tip. The net system doesn't work with this

I have the variable boot floor, but didn't order a spare wheel. However the room for the spare wheel isn't affected by the VBF. It is just an extra floor on top of the standard floor. There is still the same room under the standard floor for the spare wheel (if you have one).

The VBF gives a flat loading bay when in top position and at the same time gives an extra compartment between the standard floor and the VBF, but nothing stops things from rattling around in there. The VBF can also be placed in low position by placing it flat on top of the standard floor. This gives maximum height in the boot. A third option is to have it in top position and then fold it. That way you have sort of a shelve in the inner third or so of the boot, but have full height in the outer two thirds of the boot. That can sometimes be quite useful.

I tend to have it in low position or in the folded position mostly. I don't drive around with so many smaller items, that the extra room is useful. Since I don't have a spare wheel I already have room for extra washer fluid and some other stuff where the spare wheel normally is. If driving with nothing in the boot, the VBF can be a little noisy in the top position if the road is bad, and it can also resonate sound. For me the top position is only useful to give the flat loading bay when I sometimes load bulky items in the boot.

I think the VBF gives some extra options, but it is at the cost of maximum load space. It is a shame that it can't be taken out completely.

we had the variable boot floor option on our old Seat Altea, and I thought it was quite handy, as you could chuck stuff under there and the dog was the space above..... but then it was even worse to get the spare wheel out

when we got rid of the Altea, which I hasten to add is my wifes car, I had to pile up the stuff in the garage, we had;

snow shovel

half a bag of grit (it was October, so had obviously hidden last time it snowed)

2 spare dog leads

4 dog bowls

a blanket

2 dog towels

warning triangle

bulb kit

some tools

extendable wheel wrench

rubber gloves

first aid kit

raincoat

hi viz

first aid respirator thing (wifes a nurse, I dont know)

some tiny kids wellies (my youngest child is 8 now)

actually, the variable boot floor is a terrible thing, it was like that drawer in the kitchen/utility that everyone has

I will be performing regular checks when we get the octy :-D

VBF is nice at giving a flat loading area, especially when you fold the seats flat too. Managed to fit a fridge freezer in my estate ok, but had to drop the floor due to the angle of the rear screen which isn't as steep as my old A6. It's nice to have the choice. as others have said it has no factor in what size spare you have (if you order it!).

 

Incidentally if you do buy a spare wheel and toolkit it's a good idea to practice taking the tools, particularly the jack, out of the holder before you have to do it for real.  It's more difficult than you'd think.

 

Good point, I must do that at some point, think I only looked at it when I picked up the car to make sure it was there!

Thanks for all the replies, sounds like it has some plus's but also some not so good points! I'm coming from a commercial Toyota Landcruiser(not practical anymore with two kids) so having a flat loading space with the seats down would be handy for work but sounds like getting a flat could be a real headache, having said that in the 10 years I've had Landcruisers I've only ever had one flat but then again they have much bigger tyres which would cope with potholes/rough roads etc a lot better.

Well after using the car configurator on both the Skoda UK and Irish sites there are a good few differences in the way you can spec your car, seems like the variable boot floor is standard with Elegance trim in the UK but not in Ireland! What seats come as standard in the UK? Seems I could only choose full leather or stick with the standard seats, in Ireland they come as cloth but you can spec half leather, leather/Alcantara or full leather. Wheel options are slightly different too..

Well after using the car configurator on both the Skoda UK and Irish sites there are a good few differences in the way you can spec your car, seems like the variable boot floor is standard with Elegance trim in the UK but not in Ireland! What seats come as standard in the UK? Seems I could only choose full leather or stick with the standard seats, in Ireland they come as cloth but you can spec half leather, leather/Alcantara or full leather. Wheel options are slightly different too..

Standard seats on elegance in the UK are half leather/alcantara.

Leather/Alcantara here was a €1500 option that I ticked! Is Amundsen standard too, here the standard spec is Bolero. Still seems that when I spec both to be the same it works out cheaper in Ireland.